Flirting With Magick (5 page)

“You look great,” he said, justifying the hour it took me to preen. “Pity I’m about to take it all off.” He ran his hands up the back of my thighs then lifted me up and carried me to his room.

Afterwards, I lay naked in his arms, going over in my head again what he had just done—twice. “I think I might get a Brazilian wax,” I said out loud without really meaning to.

“What?" He sat up. "Down there? All off? Doesn’t that hurt?”

“You deserve it after what you just did.”

He laughed. “Have you had breakfast?”

“No, I’m starving.”

“Wait here.” He pulled on a pair of shorts and rushed out of the
room,
returning only minutes later with a plate of croissants and a jar of
strawberry jam. “Coffee’s on its way.”

Taking a hungry bite of my sticky, buttery breakfast, being care
ful not to spill crumbs on Scott’s sheets, I observed my surroundings for
the first time since I arrived. It was small and quite cramped, with his
double bed and musical equipment, including a keyboard; something
with knobs, slides and a million cords coming off it; and speakers sitting
next to an old desk. Nothing surprising here, he was a musician after
all. A closed door on the opposite wall was, I assumed, his wardrobe
,
and I recognised his electric bass guitar propped up next to the win
dow alongside a regular acoustic guitar.

“I tidied up before you arrived,” he needlessly explained, getting up to fetch the promised coffee.

The bedside table contained the usual, a clock radio and lamp. I also
noticed a fantasy novel sitting atop a spiral bound notebook, which I guessed was for his song writing.

“Good book?” I gestured to the novel when he returned.

“I’m rereading it for the third time.” He blew at a lock of hair that
had fallen over his eyes and handed me my cup before settling back down on the bed.

“That good, hey? I actually reread the third Harry Potter book
yesterday. It took me all day, but it was too cold to go anywhere.”

“’Azkaban’ is my favourite in that series.“

I was mildly surprised. He didn't seem the type to read Harry Potter
,
much less share the same favourite as me. I pictured him to be more of
a serious horror or crime reader. I guess the gothic look threw me a bit.

“So, Miss Lady-of-Leisure,” he blew at his fringe again, “what have
you got on for the rest of your week?”

“Tomorrow I’m booked in for a facial... and a manicure and a pedi
—
oh, just girly crap. Nothing planned on Friday, and I haven’t even
thought about the weekend yet. You said you were playing?”

“We’ve got a nightclub gig Friday night if you’re interested. I think
Nathan said that Kate was coming.”

“Sounds great. So what happened to Luke the other night, anyway?”

“You
were right. The three of them were in the living room when I got home.”

“Lucky him.”

“Nah,
overrated
,” he said mysteriously, his tone indicating the abrupt
end to the conversation.

Breakfast was over, and we lay back down, enjoying the opport
unity to cuddle and be lazy.

“Do you prefer blondes, brunettes, or redheads?” I asked, twirling
a lock of his black hair around my finger.

He smiled and twisted a strand of my own hair around his finger.
“I actually don’t have a preference.”

“What’s your natural colour?” It was difficult to tell, and I was curious.

“Brown. I dyed it myself last time. Shit job. You can see a bit I missed.”
He pointed to a section on the front of his head. I could make out a fe
w strands of chocolate, only just visible amongst the black.

“It’s not that noticeable, really. You can hardly see it.”

“My mum’s a hairdresser, so she usually does it,” he continued, “
but it grew out too much since she visited last, so I just did it myself
.
Now, enough with the personal questions, young lady.” He reached into
his bedside drawer and pulled out another condom.

I was looking slightly more tousled than when I had arrived by th
e time he walked me out to my car. “So I guess I’ll see you Friday,” he
said. “Enjoy your week.” Then his lips met mine in a sweet goodbye kiss
.

***

I woke up on Friday morning with a flutter in my stomach. Not
because it was the last weekday of my holiday; it was the sort of nervousness
that comes when you know that later that day you’re going to, to put it
bluntly, get laid. It was a nice nervous, like normal third date jitters, bu
t
without the apprehension or uncertainty that came with dating some
one in the conventional way. I was excited about seeing Scott. I loved the adorable way his hair fell over his face and looked forward to falling
for his sexy on-stage presence all over again. I couldn’t wait to feel his
lips on mine, feel the suppleness of his skin under my palms, inhale his
warm,
masculine
scent, and listen to his calm, deliberate way of speaking
. This wasn’t love; this was way better.

“WE SHOULD HAVE TOLD THEM
we were with the band.” Kate
remarked, annoyed at the forty-five minute wait we had in the queue
before finally entering The Village Nightclub. She had also baulked at
the twelve-dollar cover charge.

“We’ll try to remember next time.” I shoved an alcoholic beverage
into her hand in an attempt to placate her. “We’re helping the band out
this way. Should we let them know we’re here?”

Loud music had been pumping as more and more people congregated
in the club. The band members, minus Daniel, were on the stage, fiddling
with their instruments. We could occasionally hear the odd guitar screech
or dull thud of the bass drum above the thumping dance beat. I managed
to catch Scott’s eye and waved hello. His brows shot up, and he smiled,
mouthing ‘hi’ before going back to concentrate on the strings of his
bass guitar.

“Hey.” Luke jumped off the stage and captured Kate and I in a hug.
“Great that you could make it. Did you tell them you were with us?
We put your names on the door.”

I shrugged. “We didn’t know.”

“Bugger. You could have gotten in for free.” The already muted
overhead lights dimmed a little more, indicating the performance wa
sn’t
far away. “I’ve got to go. Come backstage afterwards.” He briskly headed
for a door to the side of the stage, slapping a heavy set man guarding the entrance on the shoulder as he went through.

The crowd waited expectantly for a few minutes as the lights darken
ed
even further and the loud techno, along with the low murmur of voices
,
faded out to silence. Nathan’s drumsticks counted in the beat, and
Reckless
Choice
launched into their first song of the night. The dark stage sudde
nly
lit up with an assortment of coloured flashing lights that synchronised
perfectly with the intricate riffs and beats.

I was more impressed by their performance tonight than I had been
at their last gig. I supposed much of it was due to actually knowing
them in person this time around. Daniel expertly excited the crowd with
his banter in between songs so that by the time the final song started, the
whole nightclub was a sea of people dancing, screaming, and generally
having a good time. Luke, ever the show-off, took full advantage of a
lengthy guitar solo while Scott, with his dark coolness, and Nathan,
protected behind the drums, proficiently did their thing behind the two
extroverts. It was clearly quite hot under the bright lights of the stage
;
Scott’s hair stuck to the side of his head, Nathan had taken his shirt off,
and I could see patches of dampness under Daniel and Luke’s arms.

Two encores later, the DJ put on the doof-doof music again, and
the coloured lights flashed across the crowded dance floor, making th
e
whole club look like the inside of a fast moving kaleidoscope. Kate and I
made our way through the throng to the backstage door, my excitement
mirrored in her eyes, only to have it quashed by the sturdy security
guard eyeing us suspiciously.

“We’re friends of the band,” Kate announced. He gave us a look that said, 'yeah right, I hear that all the time,' which made me have to stifle a giggle. They weren’t
that
famous!

“This is Luke’s cousin,” she continued hopefully, batting her eyelashes
at him, which I was sure only made the situation worse. Just then, through
the slightly open door, we saw Silas walk past.

“Silas!” We both yelled to the band’s manager. He turned and, not
yet recognising us, also gave us a questioning look.

“We’re Abby and Kate,” I declared quickly before he could turn away again. “I’m Luke’s cousin. We met at Springers.”

His face slowly but surely morphed into recognition. “It’s okay,
Andre.” He patted the bouncer's arm. “They can come in.”

We thanked them both profusely and stepped through the entrance
to the backstage rooms.
Reckless Choice
wasn’t a huge band yet, but it
was still exciting to be invited to a more rarely seen part of their pub
lic
world. Silas led us down a short hall, past some toilet and shower doors
,
to a small dressing room. A slim and pretty blonde was standing inside the entrance to the room talking to a stylish, petite woman with a dark
,
chin-length bob. I recognised the blonde from a soap-opera on TV–
Daniel’s girlfriend. He was nowhere to be seen as people squeezed past.
Neither was the rest of the group.

“Hi, ladies,” Silas greeted them as he jostled through. He turned
around to us. “This is Daniel’s girlfriend, Stacy, and Linda, our PR
consultant.” Then he introduced us as “Abby, Luke’s cousin, and Kate.”

“Hi,” we all said in unison.

“They were great, weren’t they?” I craned my neck to see over the
crowd of about fifteen people packed into the small room. I could swear
it wasn't much bigger than my bedroom. “Where are the guys?”

“They’re just packing up their equipment,” Stacy answered. “I haven’t
been able to make it to many of their gigs, but this one was brilliant.”

“We only saw them for the first time last week,” Kate admitted,
“at Springers, so we’re pretty new to this too.”

We stood against the wall in polite silence until a cool breeze enveloped
us as the outside door opened.

“Kate!” Nathan called out, rushing over. “How are you?” To my
amusement, he kissed Kate on the lips. “Hi Linda... Abby... Stacy...” He
nodded to us in turn. “Come in, sit down-– if you can find somew
here.”

We walked into the dressing room, which was only slightly bigger
than the last one. As luck would have it, the only table suddenly became
free as the five men occupying it got up to leave.

“Great show tonight,” one of them said to Nathan, giving him the
customary arm slap.

“Thanks,”
Nathan happily
replied. “Just
industry
blokes,” he explained
to those of us not in the know, although I was left still none the wiser
.
Then he sat down, pointing us towards the remaining empty seats, and
dragged Kate onto his lap. I was
surprised
to see them acting so...
together
.

“Hi, all." Luke appeared and shuffled in next to me on the long bench. “
Dan’s just in the shower," he informed Stacey who nodded and looked
back down at the table, out of boredom or shyness, I wasn’t sure.

Where's Scott?
I wondered. Through the crowd of staff and a couple of stage crew, I saw him backed against the wall by a woman with long
,
russet coloured hair who wore a short black dress. I jealously regard
ed
her tall stature, slim hips, and tiny waist, feeling instantly more insecure
about my short height, which made my proportions appear even more
generous. Just my luck if she was attractive, too. She had her back to
me, but she was whispering something in his ear and had her hand on
his bicep, the very one I’d squeezed in ecstasy a few days earlier. He
smiled at whatever she said to him, and for a split second, I thought ‘what
if he doesn’t come home with me tonight?’, feeling a pang somewhere
in the general area of my chest and stomach. I pushed the thought
away, reminding myself that we had only had a one-night
-stand-okay,
make that a two-night-stand, and he was free to do whatever he wanted
,
and so was I. I spitefully checked out the limited selection of men in the
room, deciding I would be better off having a look once we got back ou
t into the nightclub.

“I think Scott
needs
rescuing
,” Luke noticed,
standing
up. “Hey
Scotty
.”